Coco Crisp out with bruised foot, Drew to lead off for A’s

From Chronicle Staff Writer Susan Slusser at the place I think of as Jacobs Field

Coco Crisp drilled a ball off his right foot in his second at-bat last night, the first pitch, and he was hobbling around on it after the game. He’s not in the lineup today, but as manager Bob Melvin noted, “He’s a quick healer.”

So here’s the lineup, with Stephen Drew batting leadoff – Melvin said that’s because Drew has some experience in that spot, and BaseballReference.com tells me he has 210 previous starts batting leadoff.

Josh Reddick, after two very nice games batting sixth, moves up to the No. 2 spot, his first appearance there this year.

Melvin said that the report on A.J. Griffin’s rehab start with Triple-A Sacramento was good – and he was described as dominating the final three innings (hard to do at Colorado Springs, by the way). Melvin doesn’t believe that a third rehab start will be necessary for Griffin, who is on the DL with a shoulder strain.

I’d thought Griffin might be hurried up from his rehab appearance to make tomorrow’s start (it’s long man Travis Blackley instead), but I certainly believe that Griffin is a strong consideration for rejoining the A’s rotation any time from Saturday on. If Blackley is phenomenal tomorrow night, that might put him in line for another outing, of course, but I think that all along, the A’s have planned for Griffin to be back in the rotation whenever he is ready. He’s 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA in eight starts, and a scout just told me that if the A’s hold onto Brett Anderson rather than dealing him, the team is set for the next several years at the top of the rotation with Anderson, Jarrod Parker and Griffin.